Welcome. You'll find comments and information here about education in Tennessee with a focus on Nashville as well other issues as I keep an eye on legislation and news. You'll quickly realize I'm a conservative Christian who isn't the quiet submissive type and doesn't mind rankling, if necessary, to get the job done.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Liz Garrigan of the Nashville Scene puts a bite on the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association's unbelievable vote this week against receiving incentive pay. She begins by revealing a conversation between God and the MNEA president where He takes her to task and then Liz takes over.

Rich family steps up, wants to do something good, negotiates a merit pay pilot program with the local union, even cedes to a few of the union’s unreasonable demands for the sake of getting the program in place and hopefully propagating it all over the city. The union leadership—angry, obstructionist, useless as ever—grudgingly sends the idea through to its membership for a vote. But because it represents so few Nashville teachers, and because the leadership clearly didn’t explain what was at stake, the vote sends the proposal circling the drain. This, despite the fact that the teachers at the two schools in question—Alex Green Elementary and Inglewood Elementary—overwhelmingly supported the plan. Bottom line: about $2 million of free money is rejected, and teachers and other employees who would have received between $2,000 and $10,000 annually for student improvement will instead get bupkis.

and

Among Merritt’s explanations in the media, which she says have offered “inaccurate coverage,” about why her membership rejected the proposal: 1) It wasn’t enough money. She must be unfamiliar with the mathematical truth that $2 million > 0. And 2) The donor is anonymous, and the union questions the motive for the generosity.

[Warning: the Scene piece does contain some harsh language and I never know if the ads will be appropriate for general audiences so you're forewarned.]

Apparently, it's not possible, in the world these educrats live in, for fellow citizens to sincerely care about the children in their city and be willing to offer assistance. They invented all sorts of motivations for my being willing to serve and now this donor must have some nefarious purpose. What is in their heads and hearts that they have such a hard time believing people just want to help?

Nathan Moore has also written a couple of good posts regarding this nonsense from his point of view.

According to [MNEA President Jamye] Merritt, the people of Nashville, who fund the schools, are to be kept in the dark by “union rules” when a proposal that gives them (and their children) more for their tax dollar bites the dust because of an undisclosed number of union hacks in an election process that not even Jimmy Carter would certify. I mean, we can’t even get turnout? More union shenanigans...

and

Well, of course they’re [MNEA] not going to tell us about the vote. And they’re not going to tell us how much the initiative was advertised and marketed in some schools and not in others, because, well, any advance in meritocracy makes a union more superfluous. Teacher's union rejects free merit pay

I wasn't able to view the BOE meeting last evening. Is anyone out there able to upload Ms Merritt's remarks to the school board to YouTube? I think a lot of us would be interested in see that 3 minutes.

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Tennessee Constitution

The state of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools. Article XI, Sec. 12